Citadel: Stolen Endorsement
by Elias Cook
Summary: Marab loves Shepard's recent endorsement of his store, until one day he hears that other people have the same recording! They must have stolen it from him. He embarks on a mission to discover the truth.


"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel!"

Marab grinned. He loved hearing Commander Shepard's voice, and the endorsement was working. A human with a shaved head stopped by his store entrance and glanced in.

"Is that Commander Shepard?" the human said, stepping in.

"Yes! The one and only," Marab said with a beam.

"That's strange," the human said, resting his elbow on his arm while stroking his chin. His voice lowered, and Marab leaned closer to hear. "I swear I heard the same recording in three other shops."

Marab's eyes widened. "What? But, that can't be!"

"What is Shepard doing?" The human shook his head.

"They must have stolen my recording," Marab said, striking the counter with his fist. The human continued to gaze blankly at the wall. "Do you know which stores had the recording?"

"Hm, what?" The human looked at Marab. "Oh, I think one on the twenty-seventh, one on the twenty-eighth, and one on this level."

Marab nodded. "I see. Thank you. May I have your name?"

"Anderson," the human said. "I'll ask Shepard about this the next time I see her."

"You know Shepard?" Marab stood up straighter and took another look at the human in front of him. He did look important in that fancy suit of his.

"Yes, we're friends."

"That's incredible!" Marab grinned. "I wish I could say that myself."

Anderson nodded. "I should get going."

"Of course. Have a wonderful day, Mr. Anderson." Marab watched the human leave. When Marab took a break from the shop that day, he went to find the stores Anderson had mentioned. He found the Sirta Foundation store blasting, "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel." It sounded just like what he had playing in his store.

"Where did you get that recording?" Marab asked Kian, an asari and the shopkeeper.

"Commander Shepard came in here and offered an endorsement," Kian said.

Marab shook his head. "There's no way she'd just offer an endorsement for free."

"Alright." Kian sighed. "I gave her my employee discount in return."

"So you _did_ steal-" Marab blinked. "What?"

"You heard me," she said, frowning.

"So Commander Shepard, the real thing, really came into your store?" he said.

"Yes. Now if you don't have better things to ask- Wait a minute, are you the representative for Saronis Applications?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"So it _is_ you," Kian said, eyes narrowing. "I've been meaning to speak to you. You stole that recording of Shepard from my store, didn't you?"

"Me? Impossible! Shepard came into my store and recorded it for me."

"And why would she do that?" Kian said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I gave her a discount as well," Marab said and crossed his arms. "I'm a huge fan of hers. I'd give her a discount even if she hadn't endorsed my store."

"It's not really endorsing seeing as your store _isn't_ her favorite on the Citadel," Kian said with a wave of her hand. "That's false advertising."

"I could say the same to you," he said, and the two exchanged dirty looks.

"If you're not going to purchase anything, please leave," she said after a moment had passed.

"Yes," Marab said, turning towards the exit. "I'm going to find the two others who also have this recording. I bet they stole it from me."

"Or maybe they stole it from me," Kian said.

Marab shrugged as he walked out.

* * *

Another suspect was Etarn Tiron on the 28th level. He was a turian selling weapon upgrades and guns, and Shepard's voice was playing loud and clear.

"Where did you get that recording?" Marab said.

"Shepard came in and offered an endorsement," Etarn said.

"What did Shepard look like?"

"Well, she was wearing her N7 armor, had a nice grenade launcher strapped on her back, and had a turian and krogan companion."

The description fit what Marab had seen. "What did you give Commander Shepard in return for the endorsement?" he said, leaning against the counter.

"A discount of course," Etarn said and stepped back to rest against the wall. He stared at the salarian. "Why are you asking all these questions?"

"Just curious." Marab strolled out of the store and headed down to the 27th level. There he found Deleia Sanassi, another asari, with the exact same recording as all the others. _She definitely stole it from me,_ Marab thought. _She must have been jealous, hearing Shepard endorsing my store and made a copy of the audio when I wasn't looking._

When he asked her the same question he'd asked the others, though, she said, "Shepard offered an endorsement in return for a discount."

"Why?" Marab said, clicking through the kiosk. "All you sell are pets and ship models. I can't imagine the commander needing so many souvenir gifts."

"Oh you'd be surprised," Deleia said with a smile. "The commander might be my most frequent buyer now. She buys fish often, though she does seem a bit sad every time."

"But…" Marab shook his head.

"What?" she said.

"There's no way," Marab said, resting his forehead in his palms on the counter. "Commander Shepard wouldn't do this."

"Do what?" Deleia tilted her head.

"The great Commander Shepard!" Marab stood up and flourished an arm. "The savior of the Citadel! There's no way she'd endorse every possible store on the Citadel just to get discounts." He looked at the asari, eyes lighting up with hope. "Right?"

She chuckled. "I think she just wants the discounts, but it's not bad for publicity. My sales have gone up recently." Marab shook his head, slumping onto the counter. Deleia patted his arm and smiled. "When I see Shepard, would you like me to ask her?"

"Yes," Marab said. "That'd be nice. Thank you."

* * *

"Shepard." Anderson reached a hand out, and the two shook hands.

"It's great to see you again Anderson," Shepard said. "How have you been?"

"Same old, same old," he said with a shrug. "The Council seems to like forgetting that I'm one of them now. But nevermind that, Shepard. There's something I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead," she said.

"I've been hearing recordings of you saying, 'This is my favorite store on the Citadel.' Is that really you?" Anderson said.

Shepard chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah. That might be me."

Anderson smiled and shook his head. He leaned against the balcony overlooking the Presidium. "Every Goddamn store on the Zakera Ward, Shepard. Every one."

Shepard smile and joined the captain. "Great discounts, Anderson. Not everyone can get whatever they want just by asking the Council."

"I wish I could say I was one of them," Anderson said. He looked her in the eye with a smile. "It's good to see you Shepard. Thanks for stopping by."

"Not a problem, Anderson. Anything for you."

Meanwhile, "I'm Commander Shepard" continued to resound through the stores of the Zakera Ward.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


End file.
